My older sister, Cecilia, the one who strong-armed me into applying for my first fast-food job, said we should accompany our father on his May pilgrimage.

"Come to Lourdes," she said.

Eventually, I said yes.

•••

Lourdes, the tiny French town at the foothills of the Pyrenees, is a holy site for Catholics around the world. At Lourdes, we pray and visit the grotto where, in 1858, the Blessed Mother appeared to the fourteen-year-old Bernadette Soubirous. The water from the spring is believed to heal those who drink from it and bathe in it.

I didn't understand why Cecilia wanted to go. Our father, a physician and a Knight of the Order of Malta, has already taken each his seven children to Lourdes to help the sick. Surely Cecilia must have forgotten about the work involved.

I was in eighth grade when my turn came and my task was to help push and pull the carts that ferry terminally ill people a half-mile or so between a nearby hotel and the grotto. But I barely remember the people or the work I did. I was scared of being around sick people and I didn't want to get lost. I never left my dad's sight.

This time, Cecilia insisted, would be different.

"We're older, she said. "We can appreciate it."

She seemed to have forgotten another aspect of a Lourdes pilgrimage — the uniform.

The Order of Malta has specific directions about what volunteers are to wear at Lourdes. It's a basic outfit: a white skirt, white collared shirt, red cardigan, nylons and black shoes. And a veil. Sounds simple, but it's next to impossible to find the Lourdes look in Orange County. The Order of Malta could expect sisters who would look like, well, Sisters.

But clothing issues aside, I knew Cecilia had good reason for urging me to come along. It'd be memorable for us to be with our dad and do what he loves to do – help sick people. Because he volunteers some of his time with the Order's medical team, we would have to separate once we got to Lourdes, as he would tend to emergencies, but it still would be a special experience for us in our own way.

•••

The first day of our nine-day trip was a busy one.

We went to the airport and, at the International terminal, met 30 or so members of our team. I also met my malade for the day, a mother with a sick toddler.

Malade is the French term for a person seeking a cure. A malade is usually but not always sick, just a seeker. Malade is a term of affection.

For volunteer pairs like Cecilia and myself, each day in Lourdes offered a similar schedule: Meet in the hotel parking garage with our malade for the day, secure the malade to his or her cart, and then take the malade over the cobblestone path to and from parking garage and grotto.

In rainy weather, the cart's shield had to be drawn up. But the shield, a bright blue tarp, obscured the volunteer pusher's forward vision. So I left the pushing job to Cecilia and remained a puller, steering the cart to avert collisions or unwanted spills.

Though Cecilia and I were careful and caring for our malades, our pushing and pulling skills were not revered. After a few days, some malades smiled nervously when we offered a ride. Apparently, the malades had talked among themselves about our relative speed (too fast) and lack of sane braking. We should have asked a priest to bless our cart.

Related Links

Cecilia and Kathleen Luppi at Lourdes, France. The sisters spent about 10 days working with the sick. COURTESY KATHLEEN LUPPI
Lourdes, France, a place where Catholic pilgrims visit in the search for physical and spiritual healing. COURTESY KATHLEEN LUPPI
Cecilia and Kathleen Luppi in the parking garage at the hotel where they stayed in Lourdes, France. Each day they would meet with their malade, or cure seeker, and prepare them for a trip to the baths. COURTESY KATHLEEN LUPPI
At the grotto, malades and others can see holy water. They can even light candles and attend mass. But they can't bathe in the curative waters. For that, they have to go to the baths. COURTESY KATHLEEN LUPPI
The grotto at Lourdes attracts hundreds of thousands of pilgrims each year. COURTESY KATHLEEN LUPPI
Cecilia Luppi, Lawrence Luppi and Kathleen Luppi traveled together to Lourdes, France in May of this year. Lawrence Luppi, a physician, has traveled to Lourdes twelve times to work with people seeking a cure. COURTESY KATHLEEN LUPPI
Holy water needs a container, yes? Conveniently, they sell these containers at many of the shops in Lourdes, France. COURTESY KATHLEEN LUPPI
Lourdes, France is a huge tourist destination and, as such, it is home to many shops. Everything from rosaries and candles to tiny statues of the Blessed Mother can be purchased at these stores. COURTESY KATHLEEN LUPPI
Writer Kathleen Luppi, left, with her father, Lawrence Luppi and her sister, Cecilia Luppi, first visited Lourdes at age 12. She went back earlier this year and, this time, experienced the healing waters. COURTESY KATHLEEN LUPPI

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